[13-Jan-22 08:00 PM] Randak#0007
Hello everyone and thanks for having me. I’m Randy, owner of House Chaos Games and creator of Lords of Chaos.
Lords of Chaos is a high fantasy tabletop role-playing game designed so that the players’ vision and decisions matter. Key features include flexibility, a classless point buy system, and gritty combat. I built the fantasy RPG that I’d always wanted to play but couldn’t find. The other fun fact is I’ve run an active monthly campaign with this system for 37 years (currently with ten active players including five OGs) set in the world of Veras. Other tidbits can be found on the Kickstarter page.
Our House Chaos Games website (contains a test bestiary and wiki):
https://housechaosgames.com/
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https://housechaosgames.com/
Home – House Chaos Games
Welcome to House Chaos Games. Our passion and goal is to build the fun and challenging games we like to play, and sharing them with others. We’d love for you to join us! Want to chat about games? Join our Discord: Join Discord server
[13-Jan-22 08:01 PM] Randak#0007
Here is the front page of our current character sheet (which has drop-down menus and automates calculations):
{Attachments}
https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/780948065367490590/931367343815266344/CharacterSheetBlankMaster12.17.2021.xlsx
[13-Jan-22 08:01 PM] Randak#0007
Here is the character sheet as an image for those who don’t want to download a file:
{Attachments}
https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/780948065367490590/931367445275500544/CharacterSheetImage.JPG
[13-Jan-22 08:01 PM] Randak#0007
(done)
[13-Jan-22 08:02 PM] Dan Davenport#6715
Thanks, @Randak! The floor is open to questions!
[13-Jan-22 08:02 PM] Dan Davenport#6715
What can you tell us about the setting?
[13-Jan-22 08:04 PM] Randak#0007
The system can of course be run in any setting, but my campaign has been set in the world of Veras. I have a timeline of over 5000 years of history with the major nations, events, etc. I’ve built analogues to many real-life settings to give players a familiar feel, but with changes I feel are appropriate.
[13-Jan-22 08:06 PM] Dan Davenport#6715
What species are available to play?
[13-Jan-22 08:06 PM] Randak#0007
The history helps explain reasons for various friendships and other. The world itself is earth-like, in that it is the same size with a similar moon. I used basic geology to create tectonic plates, primary wind and ocean currents, etc. Most of this isn’t found in the rulebook, but it is slowing being reflected in the wiki.
[13-Jan-22 08:07 PM] Randak#0007
The standard human, elf, dwarf, although I also have an extra line on the character sheet to add your own race. In my current campaign I allowed orcs as characters (two took me up on it), and those stats are available.
[13-Jan-22 08:08 PM] Randak#0007
I’ve (as a GM) approved other races in the past, as long as they are balanced. The system makes it easy to develop races and understand their strength relative to the other races.
[13-Jan-22 08:18 PM] Dan Davenport#6715
Do your elves and dwarves have any unique twists?
[13-Jan-22 08:22 PM] Randak#0007
The races themselves vary based on their primary stats. For example, dwarves are stronger than humans who are stronger than elves (at least on average). The character building system allows the player to increase/decrease their base stats to achieve their vision of the character. Since the skill system is point buy from scratch, I don’t define those as a game dev, that is up to the player and or GM. Skills have a difficulty to learn, and I sometimes give bonuses or penalties to a character for a specific reason, be in geographic, race, etc.
[13-Jan-22 08:23 PM] Randak#0007
In my world there is history that can give broad outlines of relationships (like the problem between the elves and dwarfs or the elves and goblins), but I don’t force that vision on a GM or player. However, GMs who like mine are welcome to use them.
[13-Jan-22 08:31 PM] Dan Davenport#6715
What sort of fantasy would you say this setting is? High? Low?
[13-Jan-22 08:34 PM] Randak#0007
High fantasy, although I sometimes see different definitions of that. There is magic and mages. Powerful mages are rare, and I designed the magic system so that permanent magic was more difficult to create. That way magic is not the overpowering element of societies. It exists, it does cool things, but mundane things still have value. It is also a world where gods are active, so they or their emissaries can be found, and are magical entities.
[13-Jan-22 08:39 PM] Randak#0007
With high fantasy defined as a non-earth world, that is also true. I did create a lot of parallels with earth for a few reasons. It makes it easy to understand the day/night cycle, years, etc. It also gives players pre-familiarly with certain cultures, which of course they would have if they grew up in that world. I call this “Tolkienizing” something–making it familiar yet different enough to hold surprises and wonder.
[13-Jan-22 08:45 PM] Dan Davenport#6715
Are there any main adversaries set up in the setting?
[13-Jan-22 08:53 PM] Randak#0007
It depends on who’s side you sit. I don’t use classic alignments and never liked them. Each entity in the world has its own goals, agenda, and way of dealing with the world. There are natural adversaries: the dwarves in the Iron Mountains have been at war with the goblinoids (mainly goblins, orcs, and oges) of the Theocracy of Rai-dul for a very long time. The war is sometimes hot, sometimes cold, but there is always tension. The elves and goblins were at one time allies, in that they were mostly united against the Alvenian Empire to the north. But once that threat went away the elves forced the goblins farther south, and they are now two separate nations. The Nyssian Empire (analogue of ancient Egypt) is built on slavery and is a human dominated nation.
One of the things that tends to separate the humanoids (elves, dwarves, humans) from the goblinoids is that the goblinoids believe the strong (or most fit, in a Darwin sense) should rule, and the humanoids pretend everyone is equal, but the strongest rule. A simplification, but it sets the stage for interesting stories. The gods are similar, in that they directly engaged with each other over 5000 years ago in the Gods War. They almost destroyed themselves and now take a more indirect approach, but are always maneuvering for power. They also each have their own separate philosophies and agendas.
[13-Jan-22 08:56 PM] Dan Davenport#6715
How common are monsters in this world?
[13-Jan-22 08:59 PM] Randak#0007
As common as you want them to be. There is an area high in the Iron Mountains that is giant-infested. In the south-east of the main continent is a wild area filled with all kinds of unknown and known creatures. In the civilized areas they are less common, but still exist. I have different monsters for different habits, and try to have the whole ecosystem make sense. There is also a small continent off the main one that is mainly undead, which is sometimes the target of crusades.
[13-Jan-22 09:00 PM] Randak#0007
And of course giants are just technically another creature with their own goals, although humans may call them monsters…
[13-Jan-22 09:04 PM] Randak#0007
And that probably is a decent point for LoC. A monster is just a perception. There are wild creatures, creatures who utilize necrotic (or negative) energy for lifeforce (like undead, devils, demons, and some others), creatures with very different moral frameworks, but I try to look at each creature from their own perspective. A lion isn’t evil, but if it finds you alone and defenseless it will eat you–it’s not personal!
[13-Jan-22 09:04 PM] Randak#0007
(At least not usually…LOL)
[13-Jan-22 09:07 PM] Dan Davenport#6715
What is the cosmology of the setting?
[13-Jan-22 09:13 PM] Randak#0007
It is debated. The widely told story is that the Gods War 5000 years ago was the start of most of the races–humanoids, goblinoids, etc. These creatures sprang from the powers of the gods colliding, etc. There are some who claim the races existed before this, but there are always wild stories. Other planes exist, like hell (not a place of the afterlife, just another universe), so where did they come from? There are also stories that gods existed before the current pantheon, and that the current gods overthrew the old ones.
I like to play a lot with mythology, and one of the themes is the battle between Arathan (god of light–sun god) and his brother Raiden (dark–moon god). Arathan is the nominal leader of the gods but Raiden vies for his place. There are even stories about them just being aspects of the same god, although be careful where you say that.
[13-Jan-22 09:18 PM] Dan Davenport#6715
What is the basic task resolution system?
[13-Jan-22 09:22 PM] Randak#0007
The system is percentile based to make it easy to understand. Players choose their PC’s skills, and those are modified by their primary attributes and experience. The task is assigned a difficulty (+ or – to the percent roll) and the PC rolls the total number or less. Some tasks require one success, some multiple. Failing a check doesn’t mean it can’t be done (unless they fumble), so tension can be created as a character tries to complete a task. There are also opposed skill checks, which have two possible resolution methods, depending on how the GM wants to play it. One is better for tension, and one allows the check to be resolved with just the two opposed percentile rolls.
[13-Jan-22 09:32 PM] Dan Davenport#6715
Does degree of success matter?
[13-Jan-22 09:32 PM] Dan Davenport#6715
(brb)
[13-Jan-22 09:35 PM] Randak#0007
It generally does not, other than critical successes (5% of your success chance) or fumbles (5% of your failure chance). I experimented with using degree of success for weapon damage, but it was too complicated and didn’t give the feel I wanted. There are a few skills where degree of success matters, and for the simple opposed roll check.
[13-Jan-22 09:37 PM] Dan Davenport#6715
How does combat work?
[13-Jan-22 09:44 PM] Randak#0007
It is a segmented combat system where actions take a set number of segments (like 5 segments to draw a weapon, 0 to drop it but 5 to sheath it). A PC normally gets a left-side and right side action unless doing a task that requires two hands (bows, 2-handed weapons, casting, etc.) A melee weapon has short, medium, and long strokes (taking progressively more time but increasing damage potential). There are parries (a shield is handy in the off-hand). Using a weapon (including a shield) usually causes that weapon to reset. Armor absorbs most weapon damage (an exception is bows at short range), although it can slow you down and make you easier to hit. Since a PC has fixed hit points and hit locations, combat should always be respected. There are also tactics that can be used like Shield Walls that give benefits.
Basically when combat starts I count segments and players take actions on the appropriate segment. The combat is gritty and it is a good idea to pay attention, because things can change fast.
[13-Jan-22 09:45 PM] Randak#0007
Every 10 segments is the movement phase, and all combatants move–generally based on dexterity.
[13-Jan-22 09:46 PM] Dan Davenport#6715
How is spellcasting handled?
[13-Jan-22 09:56 PM] Randak#0007
Mages choose base effects, like fire damage, bind animal, fear, etc. Those effects are then manipulated based on RAD (range, area of effect, and duration). As a mage grows in power they can increase the number of spell effects they control, plus the RAD. This makes spell casting very flexible. A range 50′, point target, instant fire damage spell is the equivalent of a fire bolt. Take that same effect and increase the radius to 15′ diameter and you have a fire ball. Add some duration and you create a fire wall. The mage can do all those things with the same base spell.
A mage’s player (in conjunction with the GM) decide how they access their magic, any restrictions, how they manifest it, etc. There are over 200 possible spell effects listed, and they are only suggestions. A player can invent their own spells, the only work is defining them and insuring they are of the proper power level.
Magic is an energy, and there are six primary spheres of magic connected to a seventh. Spheres include nature magic, necrotic (negative energy), illusion, etc. Gods and powerful beings don’t make this distinction, but most mortals do.
Mages are designed to be support characters, although they can be quite deadly. They do general damage instead of specific location damage, and are good at battlefield control, buffing/debuffing, etc.
There is also ritual magic (to enchant magic permanently unto an item). In combat a spell takes a set number of segments to complete depending on the spell’s power (which takes into account the base effect and the RAD).
[13-Jan-22 09:57 PM] Dan Davenport#6715
In the time remaining, is there anything we haven’t covered that you’d like to bring up?
[13-Jan-22 10:00 PM] Matt_C#1800
This sounds very similar to the magic system I designed for FWB, I like giving the players the ability to craft their own magic.
[13-Jan-22 10:01 PM] Randak#0007
I could talk forever since I have decades of lore, adventures, and effort. I think my final point will be with playability. The system has crunch, in that you have to track weapon use in combat, etc. But it is easy for players to build characters and play them. I’ve had a few players who had never played an RPG come in, build a character, and jump right into the action. Mages can be a little trickier, since it is smart to prepare ahead of time. The game does take some organization by the GM, it is not a game you can fake your way through (or maybe you can, but I wouldn’t recommend it as a habit).
[13-Jan-22 10:02 PM] Matt_C#1800
Do you find that combat can get bogged down with the segments?
[13-Jan-22 10:02 PM] Randak#0007
Yeah Matt, the whole system is designed to allow the players to build a character that fits their vision, not that of the game designer. I love the magic system and my group has created some amazing mages with it. It also accounts for things like how do you create scrolls, magic weapons, etc.
[13-Jan-22 10:03 PM] Dan Davenport#6715
Usual reminder: If you’ve enjoyed this Q&A and would like to treat me to a coffee or two, you can do so at https://www.ko-fi.com/gmshoe. Anything’s appreciated! 🙂
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[13-Jan-22 10:05 PM] Randak#0007
I’ve had no problem with combats getting bogged down. It is generally not a fast resolution system for combats (it does happen), but I enjoy the combat element and my players love it. One thing is that as you are counting segments players either act or not, so you can push or pull back on the pace as a GM. I also use automated combat trackers to track the opponents’ weapons, to hit/damage, etc. I used to run it without the automated tracker, but I’ve grown to love it!
[13-Jan-22 10:06 PM] Dan Davenport#6715
Thanks very much for joining us, @Randak!
[13-Jan-22 10:06 PM] Randak#0007
Thanks for having me. I love taking about games, world building, and mechanics. Plus of course my game!
[13-Jan-22 10:07 PM] Dan Davenport#6715
If you’ll give me a couple of minutes, I’ll get the log posted and link you!
[13-Jan-22 10:07 PM] Randak#0007
I guess I can do that… 🙂
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